Challenge

Jan Breydel stadion
Spectators: 43 (Terracing: 33, Seating: 10, VIP seats: 0) The field was rather wet after several days of rain when Gijsbert ter Kruimer took the kick off in the first half of the match. Arnout Reekers stood for a superb save when he managed to get hold of Shen Shi Mo's shot from short distance in the 7th minute. 16 minutes into the game, Netherlands's Gijsbert ter Kruimer nearly tore a hole in the net with a booming shot. Luc Van Hinnendael made a valiant effort, but he could not reach the ball in time, 0-1. William Wilmots hit a great freekick 21 minutes into the match. In the 36th minute, Gustaaf Groeneveldt left the goalkeeper for dead before tapping the ball into the right side of the net. The Netherlands fans were clearly happy with the effort and the scoreboard reflected the new score: 0-2. Xavies Muñagorri's shot straight on target was not completely harmless. The ball had pretty good speed, but Arnout Reekers firmly grabbed it by the left post. 40 minutes into the match, Gijsbert ter Kruimer had an open shot that he just couldn't miss and scored to the right of Luc Van Hinnendael. FC Bruges's manager could be seen yelling to the referee that Gijsbert ter Kruimer was offside, but the referee ignored the protest. 0-3. William Wilmots's late challenge caught a Netherlands's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. William Wilmots helped the player get up and apologised. 46 minutes into the match, FC Bruges's goal looked a bit too open when Gijsbert ter Kruimer came free, but Luc Van Hinnendael reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Netherlands were awarded a corner in the 49th minute after FC Bruges's defender lost control of the ball, allowing it to roll out over the line. Gijsbert ter Kruimer took the corner. A well done corner resulted in David Eikelkamp drilling the ball in to score 0-4 behind FC Bruges's goalkeeper. Even after changing tactics the home team jogged off the field with a 0-4 deficit. They would have to work harder if they wanted to turn things around in the second half.

The players of the away team seemed most concentrated when Xavies Muñagorri stepped up to make the kick off in the second half. Arnout Reekers stood for a superb save when he managed to get hold of Xavies Muñagorri's shot from short distance in the 56th minute. Ken Brogren received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 57th minute. Arnout Reekers tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Wim Wilmes could have scored with his fast shot on goal in the 62nd minute of the match, but Luc Van Hinnendael made a huge save. Shen Shi Mo took the ball and in the 67 minute, shot a rapid shot to the right of a surprised Arnout Reekers. Arnout Reekers dived to the right, and did manage to get a hand on the shot, but it still went into the right corner making it 1-4. FC Bruges's Luc Van Hinnendael played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Wim Wilmes in the 71st minute of play. 73 minutes into the match, Netherlands's goal looked a bit too open when Philip Verhasselt came free, but Arnout Reekers reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Netherlands's Arnout Reekers played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Xavies Muñagorri in the 74th minute of play. 77 minutes into the match, Netherlands's goal looked a bit too open when Xavies Muñagorri came free, but Arnout Reekers reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. After 78 minutes of play, FC Bruges's Bernardo Urtzi made it 2-4 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Arnout Reekers was left in no man's land by his defense there! In the 89th minute Gijsbert ter Kruimer shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Luc Van Hinnendael saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. With a little luck, FC Bruges's Luc Van Hinnendael got control of the ball when Wim Wilmes tried to sneak it across the goal line. When the final whistle was heard the away supporters stood up and showed their joy. Netherlands had managed to secure a win in what was a close match throughout.